Dodge mini van rant
 

I volunteered to do some parts changing on my lovely daughter #2's dodge mini van with v6. An o2 sensor, a EGR valve, spark plugs and an oil change. How hard can it be?

GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

The EGR is right up front and you can unhook the pipe easily and unplug the wires easy as pie. The two bolts that hold it to the engine though.....the top one is difficult to reach but you can finally get it with a struggle. The lower bolt is not visible and you cannot get a socket on it or hardly a wrench. I struggled with it for a half hour and finally took a BFH and knocked it off leaving half the aluminum tab with the bolts and they came off easily.

NOw I am trying to install the new part and cannot get a socket on the lower bolt. I am going to go buy a set of new 1/4" drive metric sockets so I can have the 10mm which is missing from my current array.

The o2 sensor and the rear spark plugs look to be accessible from below so I may take it to my Indie's to get those done.

I hate working on US built cars. They only seem to care about building it....SCREW the poor sucker trying to maintain it.:mad::mad::mean:

My oldest son had one of those, and you could NOT kill it. It just ran and ran and ran. :D

I got the new 10mm socket and still could not get on the bolt. So finally I removed the part and just looked at the bolt and socket. There is a raised area on the alternator right up against the place the bolt has to go in that prevented anything from getting on the bolt. I took my dremel and took some of that raised area off and turned down the outside of the socket a bit and now it will go on.

After a brief respite I will go back and put the stupid egr valve back on!

.............with the exception of the transmission.

They barely make it 100K with the average driver.

Yet chrysler have carried the issue forward for many years. I was sitting here wondering if it is in excess of twenty years now.

Ford also likes to carry issues ahead. Most decent manufactures try to eliminate them as they pop up year to year.

I wonder how many mini van sales this automatic issue has caused chrysler to lose. If marketing ever loses it's glitter and people have to make rational decisions a lot of car brands will be in big trouble.

Well I got the egr valve in finally, three plugs, and changed the oil and filter. The car starts and runs so I guess so far so good. the spark plugs were incredibly hard to get out but not very worn.

the average driver or average minivan driver? :D

The japanese have made huge inroads into the market for large mini vans and full size pickups. All because of reliability and percieved economy of operation.

Given the fact that most of the mini vans have the short hood and are FWD, wouldn't those issues be fairly common across the spectrum? Looking under the hood of most modern vehicles I don't see much room to work on any of them.

That's right, towards the end, his van's tranny didn't do that well and the sliding door was ready to fall off. :D

.................there's a difference..............:confused:

:D

My mother traded in her 99 Caravan for an '11 Town & Country. They got the 99 new and it must have been a Wednesday car... except for one transmission sensor and a failed battery, both of which were replaced under warranty, it was mostly flawless for 140,000 miles. The AC had developed a leak over the past couple years, but a charge at the beginning of the season would last till things cooled off.

The van gave us such excellent service I have a hard time knocking them.

-J

I have a standing request with several friends to shoot me dead if I ever buy a minivan.

I think the minivan is a great vehicle, it's perfect for moving a bunch of people and their luggage with plenty of space.

Do the timing chains still fall off those ?:rolleyes: